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From today, sharing information about a child at risk is a legal duty, not a judgement call

Qurexa Editorial Team30 September 20266 min read 0 0
From today, sharing information about a child at risk is a legal duty, not a judgement call

What happened

From today, 30 September 2026, a new legal duty on sharing information about children comes into force across England. It is called the Information Sharing Duty, and it sits in section 16LA of the Children Act 2004. It was added by the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026. The Department for Education updated its statutory guidance, "Information sharing to safeguard children and young people", on 10 September to reflect the change. Two template data sharing agreements were published alongside it, one strategic and one operational, for local areas to adapt. The duty applies across a wide range of organisations: - local authorities - integrated care boards and NHS trusts - the police - education and early years settings - prison and probation services - youth justice and youth custody services - GPs, dentists and other primary care providers In plain terms, the duty says this. If one of those organisations holds information about a child, and considers that sharing it with another eligible organisation may help that organisation safeguard or promote the child's welfare, it must share it. There is an exception written into the law. The duty does not apply if the person holding the information considers that disclosing it would be more detrimental to the child than not disclosing it. The law also states that a disclosure made under this section does not breach any obligation of confidence owed by the person making it.

Why this matters

Almost every serious case review into a child's death or serious harm in this country has said a version of the same thing. Somebody knew something. Somebody else knew something different. Nobody put the two together. The school knew a child had stopped turning up. The GP knew a parent was struggling. The housing officer knew about the state of the flat. Each held one piece, and each had a reason not to pass it on: it might not be relevant, it might breach confidence, it might be someone else's job. The Information Sharing Duty is aimed squarely at that pattern. It changes information sharing from something a practitioner may do if they judge it right, into something they must do when the test is met. The wording of the test is deliberately low. It is not "may prove that a child is at risk". It is that sharing "may facilitate" another body's safeguarding or welfare work. That is a much easier bar to clear, and that is the point. The line about confidence is the one that will matter most in practice. Fear of breaching confidentiality has been one of the most common reasons professionals have held back. The law now says a disclosure made under this duty does not breach a duty of confidence. For parents and carers, this is worth understanding plainly: information about your child may now be shared between a school, a GP and a council in circumstances where previously it might not have been.

What the evidence actually says

Two things deserve care here, because there has been some loose commentary about this change. First, this is a duty to share, not a duty to share everything. The test is whether the person holding the information considers it may help the receiving body safeguard or promote the child's welfare. Information that has nothing to do with a child's safety or welfare does not meet that test. The law also builds in a brake. Where a practitioner considers that disclosure would be more detrimental to the child than not disclosing, the duty does not apply. That judgement stays with the professional. Second, the duty removes an obstacle rather than removing all obstacles. The statute says a disclosure under it does not breach an obligation of confidence. It does not say that data protection law stops applying, and it expressly cannot override prohibitions in the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. Practitioners are required to have regard to the Secretary of State's guidance, which is exactly why the statutory guidance and the template agreements were published first. The practical significance is therefore real but bounded. A professional who previously hesitated over confidentiality has a clear answer. A professional wondering whether to share a child's entire record with everyone does not. It is also worth noting what this duty does not do. It does not, by itself, create a shared national database. The guidance should be read alongside "Working together to safeguard children", the main statutory framework for child protection in England.

Practical advice

If you work in a school, nursery, GP practice, NHS trust, council or police service: - Read the updated statutory guidance rather than a summary of it. It is the document you will be measured against. - Look at the two template data sharing agreements and check them against what your area already has in place. - Make sure frontline staff, not just safeguarding leads, know the test: would sharing this may help another body safeguard or promote this child's welfare? - Record your reasoning, including when you decide not to share because disclosure would be more detrimental to the child. The decision not to share now needs justifying too. - Do not treat the duty as permission to share indiscriminately. Data protection obligations have not gone away. If you are a parent or carer: - You do not need to do anything. This is a duty on organisations, not on families. - If you want to understand what your child's school might share and with whom, ask to see its privacy notice and its safeguarding policy. Schools must publish both. - If you are worried about something that has been shared, ask the organisation to explain the basis for it. You are entitled to an answer. - If information about your child is being shared because a professional is concerned, engaging with that concern early is almost always better than contesting the process.

What to know

The Information Sharing Duty, section 16LA of the Children Act 2004, comes into force on 30 September 2026. It was introduced by the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026. It requires councils, NHS bodies, the police, schools and early years settings, GPs and dentists, and youth justice and probation services to share information about a child with another eligible body where they consider it may help that body safeguard or promote the child's welfare. A disclosure made under the duty does not breach an obligation of confidence. The duty does not apply where the holder considers disclosure would be more detrimental to the child than not disclosing. Data protection law continues to apply, and practitioners must have regard to the Secretary of State's statutory guidance, updated on 10 September 2026 with two template data sharing agreements. Sources: Department for Education, "Information sharing to safeguard children and young people" (statutory guidance), updated 10 September 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/information-sharing-to-safeguard-children-and-young-people. Children Act 2004, section 16LA, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/31/section/16LA. Department for Education, "Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026: policy summary", https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/childrens-wellbeing-and-schools-act-2026-policy-summary. This article is for general information. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist, social worker or other qualified professional. If you are concerned that a child is at risk of harm, contact your local authority children's services, or the police on 999 in an emergency.

#safeguarding#schools#information sharing#child protection#statutory guidance#families

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